Charities and Nonprofits Strive to Fulfill Their Missions and Adapt to New Ways of Working with Help from Mitel

As organizations around the world continue to struggle with the impact of COVID-19, nonprofits have shifted into high gear in response to increasing needs from the communities they serve. At a time when connections matter most, Mitel®, a global leader in business communications, is helping nonprofits enhance their ability to communicate, collaborate and work from anywhere to sustain their missions.

In a survey assessing the immediate and expected effects of coronavirus on charities worldwide, global grantmaking organization CAF America found nearly all have been negatively affected by decreased funding, travel restrictions and staff limitations. Despite the challenges, more than 90 percent continue to serve their communities and two-thirds now rely on remote working as the de facto solution for maintaining operations. However, respondents also acknowledged they lack the infrastructure and access to systems that would allow moving their work online. To survive and thrive, more than 60 percent are researching ways to innovate.

Longtime technology allies for nonprofits, Mitel and its partners have assisted international charities of all sizes during the pandemic as they looked to evaluate and fortify their communications strategy and drive innovation within their organizations through new ways of working, connecting and serving their communities.

• Anna Freud Centre ? The renowned, UK-based charity, providing mental health services for children and families, had previously invested in a cloud-based Mitel unified communications platform. As an early adopter of remote working capabilities, the organization's staff of 400 were already familiar with hot-desking and accustomed to working from home when the decision was made to close their London Centre of Excellence. Engineers from Opus, a Mitel Platinum Partner, worked quickly to roll out additional remote worker licenses and ensure all permanent staff were able to access softphone clients on either their laptops or mobile phones, allowing staff to work seamlessly from home and provide services as usual in the coming weeks.
• British Red Cross ? One of the world's foremost humanitarian crisis relief organizations saw calls to their National Support hotline increase 100 percent at the outset of the pandemic. To support the demand and ensure business continuity, Mitel and Platinum Partner Olive Communications worked with them to launch a 100-agent omnichannel contact center solution for their existing MiCloud Flex private cloud communications service. Up and running in only seven days, the solution features a simple interface with operability across all types of devices, including mobile phones, which makes it easy for the volunteer agents to use. Agents can also log in from anywhere and shift patterns can be identified through web-based reporting and call activity logs to increase efficiency.
• Minnie's Food Pantry ? A North Texas-based nonprofit and champion in the fight against hunger, Minnie's experienced a 300 percent increase in demand for food assistance due to COVID-19. To meet the need, the Minnie's team swiftly mobilized, expanding their service from four days a week to six. In one week, they served more than 5,000 people, exceeding their overall monthly average. With an already small staff of volunteers and some who were unable to return to work, the team depends on its MiCloud Connect cloud communications solution to stay connected, operate as efficiently as possible and provide a vital community service as the pandemic continues to strain foodbanks.

In this new world, remote working resources and tools, like omnichannel contact centers, are integral to supporting the communities nonprofits serve and enabling engagement with donors. With the right communications system in place, staff and volunteers gain the flexibility to work from anywhere while still achieving their goals.

Quotes

"While our entire team is on the frontlines, we have phone calls being routed to our cellphones, allowing us to work from any area of our facility, as well as offsite. Mitel has truly helped us stay organized in terms of managing phone calls, which allows us to spend our time doing what is most important ? feeding our communities," said Zoya Jackson, Executive Assistant, Minnie's Food Pantry.

"Mitel's nonprofit customers are masters of resourcefulness and achieving remarkable results. The passion they have for what they do is impressive in the best of times, but watching these organizations rise up through this crisis with a deepened committed to the causes they serve has been inspiring. Mitel is proud to support nonprofit teams worldwide in bringing people together and honored that they trust us to help further their missions," said Ben Neo, Head of Professional Services and Charities, Mitel.

Additional Facts

• Mitel is a leading provider of cloud communications, enabling more than 5 million users, including 1.5 million UCaaS customers (Source: Synergy Research Group).
• MiCloud Connect was named a Best Business Tool of 2019 by Newsweek.
• Mitel is recognized as a Leader in the 2019 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Unified Communications & Collaboration.
• Eastern Management ranks Mitel best in value for UCaaS and hosted PBX solutions.

Related Materials

• Read the blog: "Everything You Need to Know to Excel While Working from Home"
• Read the blog: "The Workforce Evolution: Adapting to the Digital Office."
• Download the white paper: "2019 Workplace Productivity and Communications Technology Report."

About Mitel
A global market leader in business communications powering more than two billion business connections, Mitel helps businesses and service providers connect, collaborate and provide innovative services to their customers. Our innovation and communications experts serve more than 70 million business users in more than 100 countries. For more information, go to www.mitel.com and follow us on Twitter @Mitel.

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